Non-canonical subjects in clauses with noun predicates*
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Abstract
The aim of this paper is to investigate Italian constructions like <i>Gli prese paura</i> ‘he got scared’ (lit. ‘himDAT took fear’). Their crucial property is the combination of the light verb <i>prendere</i> with a dative experiencer which displays syntactic subject behaviour. The analysis, in the multistratal framework of Relational Grammar, leads to the assumption of impersonal “inversion” structures. Parallels, with lexical variation of the light verb, are found in other Romance languages.
